Basic English Structures: Nouns and Rules

Structure of English

• Basic English Structures and Rules:
  • Nouns:
    • Function as the subject of the sentence
    • Types: Common, Proper, Concrete, Abstract, Count, Non-count, Collective
  • Pronouns:
    • Replace a noun or a noun phrase
    • Types: Personal, Possessive, Demonstrative, Interrogative, Relative, Indefinite, Reflexive, Intensive
  • Verbs:
    • Denote action or show state of being
    • Have 4 inflections: -s, -ed, -en, -ing
    • Types: Intransitive, Transitive, Linking/Copula

Subject-Verb Agreement

• Rules:
  • Verb with -s is singular, without -s is plural
  • Linking verbs agree with the real subject
  • Non-count noun subjects take a singular verb
  • Collective noun subjects:
    • Take singular verbs if the group acts as a single body
    • Take plural verbs if the group acts as individual members
  • Mass nouns:
    • Can only be pluralized by quantifiers
    • Are always singular
  • Other rules:
    • Indefinite pronouns are always singular
    • Correlative subjects take a plural verb
    • The expression "the number" takes a singular verb
    • None as a subject takes a singular verb
    • Either or neither as a subject takes a singular verb
    • Title of literary/artistic works and names of firms take singular verbs
    • Each other is used for two persons or things, one another is used for more than two
    • The phrase "such as" and "among the" must be followed by a plural noun

Linguistics

• Definition: Scientific study of language
• Importance: Provides language teachers with what to teach and how to teach
• 4 parts of language:
  • Phonology: Rules pertaining to the sound system
  • Morphology: Rules governing word structure
  • Syntax: Rules governing the structure of sentences
  • Semantics: Rules concerning meaning

History of English Language

• Importance: Helps teachers understand the origins of phonology, morphology, orthography, and semantics
• Provides: Appreciation for the variety and expressive precision of English vocabulary
• Enhances: Vocabulary teaching

Vocabulary Building

• Latin words: Composed of prefixes, roots, and suffixes
• Importance: Students can learn many vocabulary words at once by learning about Latin roots and affixes
• Prefixes and suffixes:
  • Most suffixes date from the Middle English period of history
  • Can be used to teach vocabulary in the classroom### Language and Linguistics
• Inflectional suffixes: -s, -es, -ed, -ing, -er, -est
• Derivational suffixes: -able, -ness, -ful, -ment, -ity
• Suffixes can change the pronunciation of base words (e.g. define -> definition, compete -> competition)

The Great Vowel Shift

• Occurred between 1400 and 1600
• Profound and quick change in the pronunciation of words, particularly vowel sounds
• Spelling system did not change to accommodate the changing sounds

Syntax and Semantics

• Syntax: rules that enable us to combine morphemes into sentences
• Semantics: study of meaning in language
• Arbitrariness of the sign: sounds of words bear no relationship to meaning (except for onomatopoeia)
• Example: "The people talked over the noise" can have two different syntactical interpretations

Grammar and Language

• Grammar: how we know that one sentence is grammatical and another is not
• Rules of grammar are represented in the brain
• Noam Chomsky's views: children acquire language rules unconsciously, and language development occurs through exposure to language
• Universal Grammar: all human languages share a fundamental structure, and humans have an innate ability to apply this structure to any language

Phonology and Phonetics

• Phonology: study of the sound system of language
• Phonetics: study of language at the level of sounds
• Phoneme: smallest unit of sound that causes a difference in meaning
• Allophones: variants of a phoneme
• Consonants: sounds produced by obstructing airflow
• Vowels: sounds produced with little obstruction in the vocal tract

Morphology

• Morphology: study of the patterns of formation of words
• Morphemes: smallest units of meaning in language
• Allomorphs: variants of a morpheme
• Free morphemes: can stand on their own as independent words
• Bound morphemes: cannot stand on their own as independent words
• Inflectional morphemes: do not change the form class of the words or morphemes to which they are attached

Language Acquisition

• Second Language Acquisition Theories: Behaviorist, Humanistic, Cognitivist, and Postmodern
• Language development occurs through exposure to language, and children can't be taught grammatical rules because they are not explicitly known### Morphology
• Comparative and superlative forms of adjectives:
  • Comparative: -er (e.g., fast-er)
  • Superlative: -est (e.g., fast-est)
• Derivational morphemes:
  • Added to root morphemes or stems to derive new words
  • Change the form class of the words they are attached to
  • Open-ended, potentially infinite
  • Examples: real + {-ize} = realize, hope + {-ful} = hopeful

Syntax

• Study of how phrases, clauses, and sentences are constructed
• Deals with rules of positioning elements in a sentence
• Important structures:
  • Structure of Predication: subject + predicate
  • Structure of Complementation: verbal element + complement
  • Structure of Modification: head word + modifier
  • Structure of Coordination: equivalent grammatical units + coordinating conjunction
• Syntactic rules:
  • Enable combining morphemes into sentences
  • Bridge between sound and meaning

Semantics

• Study of word and phrase meanings
• Accounts for both word and sentence meaning
• Important concepts:
  • Lexical ambiguity: multiple possible meanings of a word
  • Syntactic ambiguity: multiple possible meanings of a phrase or sentence
  • Synonymy: words with similar meanings
  • Antonymy: words with opposite meanings
  • Hyponymy: word with a broader meaning
  • Homonymy: words with the same phonetic form but different meanings
  • Anaphora: reference to a previous linguistic expression

Pragmatics

• Study of the role of context in creating meaning
• Deals with language used in real communication
• Important concepts:
  • Locutionary force: literal meaning of a sentence
  • Illocutionary force: pragmatic meaning of a sentence
  • Perlocutionary force: reaction of the hearers
  • Conversational maxims: rules for effective communication
  • Implicature: intended meaning beyond the literal meaning

Theories of Language and Language Teaching

• Structuralism:
  • Views language as a system
  • Believes that language can be learned by describing observable features
  • Language is a means of communication
  • Language is primarily vocal
  • Language is a system of structurally related elements
  • Language is arbitrary
• Transformationalism:
  • Believes that language is innate and universal
  • Language rules are universal
  • Language is a mental phenomenon
  • Language is innate
  • Language is universal
• Functionalism:
  • Views language as a vehicle for expressing meaning
  • Focuses on language functions rather than language rules
• Interactionism:
  • Views language as a tool for establishing social relations
  • Believes that language is learned through interaction and participation

Theories of Second Language Acquisition

• Behaviorist learning theory:
  • Regards language as a behavior
  • Believes that language is learned through conditioning and reinforcement
  • Language is a result of habit formation
• Cognitive learning theory:
  • Regards language as a mental process
  • Believes that language is learned through an innate Language Acquisition Device
  • Major strategies: Chomsky's Generative Grammar, Krashen's Monitor Model, Information-Processing Theories
• Krashen's Monitor Model:
  • Involves five hypotheses:
    • Acquisition/Learning hypothesis
    • Natural Order hypothesis
    • Monitor hypothesis
    • Input hypothesis
    • Affective Filter hypothesis

Influences of Theories on Language Teaching

• Behaviorism:
  • Led to methods that focus on mimicry and memorization
  • Examples: Audio-Lingual Method, Oral Approach, Operant Conditioning approach
• Cognitivism:
  • Led to methods that prioritize language analysis
  • Examples: Directed Reading Thinking Activity, Story Grammar, Thinking-Aloud
• Functionalism:
  • Led to methods that focus on language functions
  • Examples: Communicative Language Teaching, Notional-Functional Approach, Natural Approach
• Holistic approach:
  • Led to methods that focus on the whole person
  • Examples: Community Language Learning, Humanistic Approach

Review of basic English structures and rules, focusing on nouns, including common and proper nouns, and their functions in sentences.